History Fanfic / InAStrangeLand

** Fear of a thoughtless accident that leads to the death of a friend/the kid's that you're supposed to be in charge of.

* AgeAppropriateAngst: Played with. Adult characters note that the kids are much, much better at coping with the Upside Down than they are. Particularly true in Steve's case where he doesn't bounce back like the kids and lacks an adult's experience.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: At one point, Steve rubbishes his dad's Apple Lisa 2 computer by dismissively stating that the only people who will ever want to buy "a $5000 typewriter" are nerds and rich assholes like his father who want to flaunt their wealth. You will, of course, note the irony that thirty-odd years after this scene is set, this character's thoughts on the subject of home computing and its likely irrelevance will have been written, published and read almost exclusively on the many descendents of said $5000 typewriter.

* IMNotAfraidOfYou: Subverted by Will, who admits he absolutely IS afraid, but is going to what he has to to help his friends anyway.

* GeniusBonus:
** The prologue uses the phrase 'Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis decertata odiis' (Fraternal warfare and alternate reigns fought for in unnatural hate) - and the Aboleth refers to itself as "the supreme being of the threefold world" (triplicis mundi summum) these are both from or related to the Thebaid- a story about the two sons of Oedipus fighting over who gets to be king. The supreme being of the threefold world being referenced? The first literary appearance of the Demogorgon.

* BigBrotherInstinct/BigBrotherMentor: Steve to Dustin.

A novel-length ''Stranger Things'' fan fiction set after Season 2 of the show, inspired by the works of Stephen King and H P Lovecraft. Notable for its strong character voices, historical detail, and LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

A novel-length Stranger Things fan fiction set after Season 2 of the show, inspired by the works of Stephen King and H P Lovecraft. Notable for its strong character voices, historical detail, and LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Nancy/Johnathan/Steve

* TheEighties : Set in winter of '85 and it shows. Laser discs, the Apple Lisa 2 and tons of 80's music and movie references make an appearance.

* AbusiveParents : Neil Hargrove.

* AddledAddict : Steve's mom abuses prescription benzodiazepines.

* {{Adorkable}} :

* AdultFear : In spite of fighting actual monsters the teen's nightmares at Hawkins Lab are all these rather than being related to the Upside-Down.

* AdultsAreUseless : Averted. Hopper, Joyce, Kali and Mr.Clarke are all instrumental in killing the monster. Sam Owens passes along vital information and even some adults that aren't in the loop like Phil Callhan do something useful over the course of the story.

* AlasPoorVillain : Not that he feels bad for it for long but Hopper feels the Aboleth's projected loss as the same loss as a parent losing a child [[spoiler: when Joyce destroys its eggs.]]

* AloneWithThePsycho : Played with by Nancy and Billy Hargrove in her kitchen -by the end of the interaction neither of them is completely sure which of them is the psycho, or if it's both of them, and Billy is enthusiastically encouraging Nancy to kill him.

* AlienGeometries : Hawkins Lab becomes this when the Aboleth tries to trap Nancy, Jonathan and Steve there, with hallways too long to exist in the building and that always circle back to a single spot.

* AmbiguousDisorder :

* ArcWords : "The supreme being of the Three-Fold World","Let the sunshine in, face it with a grin."

* AscendedExtra : Mr. Clarke becomes a major factor in the story.

* AssholeVictim : Neil Hargrove, again. Reed.

* AxCrazy : The monster is influencing people to be this. Notably Mrs. Pinbacker with an actual ax.

* BadlyBatteredBabysitter : Steve. As always.

* BeYourself : A major theme of the fic- along with figuring out who that self is.

* BigBrotherInstinct/BigBrotherMentor : Steve to Dustin.

* BiTheWay : Jonathan Byers is attracted to both Nancy and Steve, even though he's not completely sure that he even *likes* Steve as a person. Comes to terms with the fact that he's [[BlatantLies tolerable]] by the end.

* BookDumb : Steve frequently comes off as a bit dense (thinks you can go straight to prison for anything if it's illegal- including slander and that psychic driving probably involves cars) but his thought process is as complex as any of the other POV characters and he's a pretty quick thinker. How many of his denser moments are ObfuscatingStupidity is unclear.

* BookEnds : The flashback to the D&D game the kids and Steve are playing starts in the first chapter and ends in the last.

* BroughtDownToNormal : El's traditional ability to use her mind powers to kill Upside Down creatures directly doesn't work and causes her powers not to recharge. She figures out a way around this in Chapter 11.

* BullyBrutality : It IS based on Stephen King, after all. Billy Hargrove opens a fight with Steve by clobbering him with a sock full of gym locks- a weapon that's commonly used in *prison*- and ends it trying to choke him to death.

* TheCameo : While the DJ on radio 6.60 is never named, it's pretty clearly Grant Mazzy from Film/Pontypool.

* CentralTheme : Friendship and identity.

* ChekhovsGun :

* ChildhoodFriends : The Party obviously. Also Steve and Jonathan who were best friends from ages 7-10 before Steve finally gave into pressure from his dad and abandoned him for Tommy.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance : Jonathan had a crush on an oblivious Steve when they were little kids.

* ChildrenAreInnocent : Steve seems to admire this about The Party, especially contrasted with his own adolescence, to the point that part of why he likes hanging out with them seems to be actually getting to *enjoy* things without worrying about if it's cool or adult or not.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve : The fight against the Aboleth in the Inbetween has this in spades. From Mike realizing how to ShapeshifterModeLock the monster to the other's realizing that they can will their signature weapons into being. But unfortunately *not* a rocket-launcher.

* CrossOver : Starts as an homage/pastiche of Stephen King but veers into true cross-over territory when Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan run into The Shop- AKA the Weapons Shop of Isher AKA The Department of Scientific Intelligence- the group responsible for the events of {{Firestarter}} and TheMist and who fail to stop the super-flu outbreak during TheStand.
** Roethe and Subject Six are part of Project Arrowhead- the project to open gates to other worlds that resulted in the events of TheMist
** Diethyltryptamine-19 is the mind-enhancing drug developed by Project MK Ultra in BansheeChapter.

* DarkWorld : The Inbetween is nothing but dark. With all the Stephen King references in the fic it's possible that it's the same as Todash Space - the dark dimension that characters travel through in TheDarkTower when they 'go todash' and that spawns the monsters from TheMist.

* DeathSeeker : A few.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype : A slight deconstruction of Mom!Steve/Good Babysitter Steve Harrington. While Steve is still incredibly protective and a great friend to the kids it's obvious that he's way out of his depth and struggling with personal issues that make his insistence on being a Very Responsible Adult incredibly emotionally draining and physically dangerous. Dustin mentions that The Party are closer to being his babysitters.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance : Due to taking place in the early 1980s.

* DepravedBisexual : Billy has shades of this- though he seems more interested in a person's capacity for violence than anything else. Dustin lampshades it, saying that the only thing Billy's in love with is beating the shit out of people.

* {{Determinator}} : Pretty much everyone. How people deal with the need to be this is a main theme.

* DidntThinkThisThrough : Jonathan suspects that actually thinking something through before he acts could possibly make Steve spontaneously combust when Steve gives away the fact that they know El to Dr. Roethe, completely unnecessarily.

* DisappearedDad : Dustin's dad apparently 'went out for cigarettes' sometime after Season 1.

* DistressedDude : Steve and Hopper get the lion's share of being in distress. Will is notably the single safest person in Hawkins, for once.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything : Billy's POV during his fight with Steve gets noticeably sexual in how he thinks about violence- with Billy even thinking that Steve should fight back obvious pain by 'thinking about baseball'.

* EldritchAbomination : The Aboleth a transdimensional creature that can create illusions, warp reality and whose presence causes the people of Hawkins to become hateful and violent before taking them over all together as a PuppeteerParasite.

* EmotionEater : The Aboleth encourages guilt, misery and fear in the people it targets.

* {{Foreshadowing}} : Most of the music foreshadows future events. None of them good.

* FatalFlaw : Hubris for the Aboleth. It's so confident that it's unkillable and that the only thing standing between it and winning are El and to a lesser extent Kali that it treats everyone else as an after-thought. Cue [[spoiler: a NoHoldsBarBeatDown that spans three separate dimensions.]]

* FreudianTrio : Nancy (Ego), Jonathan (Superego) and Steve (Id).

* GenreRoulette : Starts as mostly a ComingOfAgeStory character study but eventually ends up straight horror.

* GenreSavvy : At this point, pretty much everyone- but Dustin, Mr. Clarke, and Mike stand out for how willing they are to draw inspiration from movies, D&D and various other media.

* GeniusBonus :

* GuileHero :

* HatePlague : The first sign that the Aboleth is in Hawkins is people starting to become unnaturally murderous or self-destructive.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower :

* HiddenDepths : Steve wants to come across as cool and unflappable, but he's surprisingly sensitive and smarter than most people give him credit for. While he's still always slowest on the uptake when it comes to complex concepts he generally proves to have good instincts and is actually a creative thinker.

* {{Homage}} :

* IMNotAfraidOfYou : Subverted by Will, who admits he absolutely IS afraid, but is going to what he has to to help his friends anyway.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex : Steve is still sporting one of these toward the beginning of the fic and his desire to be liked leads to him making bad decisions. His nightmare at the lab boils down to doing something stupid for approval and getting The Party killed. He starts to get over it in Chapter 10.

* KickTheDog : Billy attacking Dustin.

* LonelyRichKid : At the beginning Steve is extremely rich and extremely isolated. He ends up cutting himself off from his biological family with $400 to his name but surrounded by a FamilyOfChoice.

* LovecraftCountry : The eclipse Mr. Clarke mentions is the same one featured in Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game. Mr. Clarke grew up in Haven, Maine the setting of The Tommyknockers, and mentions going to the movies at the Aladdin- the movie theater in nearby [[{{IT}} Derry.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane : Bob's appearance in Chapter 11 is explained away by Mr. Clarke as a hallucination brought on by an acute stress reaction but this ''is'' Hawkins...

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome : Dustin think that he's crippled the monster only to find that everyone is exactly where he left them and nothing has changed- as far as *he* can tell. Cue a HeroicBSOD.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain : If the Aboleth hadn't sent Billy to try to take out The Party Dustin never would have figured out how to save the town.

* ObfuscatingStupidity : A couple of characters notice that Steve is prone to this, particularly Dustin who scolds him for doing a thing where he "acts dumber than he is" and Hopper who notes that he pretends to be 'sort of an idiot sometimes'. Likely ingrained as a defense mechanism along with his StepfordSmiler tendencies by his family and his time with Carol and Tommy rather than something he knowingly does.

* OneSteveLimit : Averted. While there is only one Steve there are three uses of James. James 'Jim' Hopper, James Harrington, and Steven James Harrington and at least three Bob's or Bobby's mentioned. Nancy frequently references background characters names with initials- indicating another person with the same first name.

* PoisonousFriend : Tommy and Carol are this even beyond what they were on the show.

* ThePowerOfFriendship : Dustin thinks off-handidly that maybe they can defeat the monster with the power of friendship when he doesn't know what else to do. That's pretty much what ends up happening.

* PreAssKickingOneLiner : "Faberge organics, dickhead."

* PrecisionFStrike : Mr. Clarke doesn't swear to the point that even his internal monologue tends to not use anything stronger than 'heck' - so the one "Oh, shit" when he encounters the monster for the first time comes off as one of these.

* PuttingOnTheReich : The Shop is just as immoral as Hawkins lab and employs scientists that were part of Operation Paperclip.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure : Hopper and Mr. Clarke.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech : Dustin delivers one to Billy, comparing him to other characters that have suffered abuse and making it clear that he thinks that Billy is just a sadist whose FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse.

* RealityEnsues :

* ScienceHero : Dustin and Mr. Clarke end up saving the town purely through their combined knowledge of earth science and radio technology.

* SherlockScan : Steve gets one from Murray who tells him he has abandonment issues and it's a real 'Cat's in the Cradle' situation.

* ShownTheirWork : In regards to the 80's, parasites, the Vietnam war, Dungeons and Dragons and radio science.

* SimultaneousArcs : The last chapter has everyone in different places (and dimensions) regardless of Dustin's plan to NeverSplitTheParty .

* StepfordSmiler : Steve seems to have internalized that his main worth as a friend/son stems from being emotionally uncomplicated and undemanding. A big part of his arc is realizing that he can open up to his friends when he's unhappy and that they'll stand by him.

* TakeThat : A couple of mild ones to people who think that Billy Hargrove is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold instead of a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. One even delivered by Billy himself as he mocks a frightened Nancy with the fact that some of the girls at school just think that "he's misunderstood".

* TakeAThirdOption : El in Chapter 11. She can't save her friends while she's fighting the Aboleth even though she may be able to kill it. She takes the third option and uses her powers to Watch and drag The Party's minds with her into the Inbetween.

* ThinDimensionalBarrier : Thinny's are implied to exist in-universe by Subject Six.

* TrappedInAnotherWorld : The Party ends up partially trapped in the Inbetween.

* TriangRelations : Appears to fall somewhere between a type 8 and a type 11 with Nancy as A Jonathan as B and Steve as C.

* {{Troll}} : Murray Bauman trolls Steve relentlessly when the teens visit him for information.

* TrueCompanions : Everyone, by the end.

* UnresolvedSexualTension : Nancy/Johnathan/Steve

* VitriolicBestBuds : Steve and Jonathan spend most of their time together sniping at each other.

* WellDoneSonGuy : Steve desperately craves any kind of validation from adults due to his actual parents being emotionally distant and demanding, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Hopper.

* WhatYouAreInTheDark : Used word for word in Chapter 11 when The Party get stuck Inbetween.

* WouldHurtAChild : Billy only hesitates to beat up Dustin because he thinks that Dustin is barely worth the effort.

* YouShallNotPass : Said pretty much word for word by Dustin when he's protecting his unconscious friends from Billy Hargrove.

* TheCameo : While the DJ on radio 6.60 is never named, it's pretty clearly Grant Mazzy from Pontypool.
** Nancy Wheeler's locker is next to someone named [[EvilDead Ashley Williams]]

* Adorkable :

** Mr. Clarke is a big nerd who's first thoughts about finding out that alternate dimensions are real and filled with monsters is how it's going to effect various scientific fields.
** Steve has his moments- he's genuinely good at and enjoying playing D&D and suggests that the argument of whether to call El Jane or El is best solved by 'calling her Jane-El like she's from Krypton.'
*** The fact that he ends up nick-naming her Supergirl.

* AlasPoorVillain : Not that he feels bad for it for long but Hopper feels the Aboleth's loss as the same as a parent losing a child [[spoiler: when Joyce destroys its eggs.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct : Steve to Dustin.

* BiTheWay : Jonathan Byers is attracted to both Nancy and Steve, even though he's not completely sure that he even *likes* Steve. Comes to terms with the fact that he's 'tolerable' by the end.

* BookDumb : Steve frequently comes off as a bit dense (thinks you can go to jail for anything if it's a crime- including slander and that physic driving probably involves cars) but his thought process is as complex as any of the other POV characters and he's a pretty quick thinker. How many of his denser moments are ObfuscatingStupidity is unclear.

* TheCameo : While the DJ on radio 6.60 is never named, it's pretty clearly Grant Mazzy from {{Pontypool}}.
** Nancy Wheeler's locker is next to someone named [[{{EvilDead}} Ashley Williams]]

* GenreSavvy : At this point, pretty much everyone but Dustin, Mr. Clarke, and Mike stand out for how willing they are to draw inspiration from movies, D&D and various other media.

** To StephenKing to the point of being a WholePlotReference for {{IT}}.

* Lovecraft Country : The eclipse Mr. Clarke mentions is the same one featured in Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game. Mr. Clarke grew up in Haven, Maine the setting of TheTommyknockers, and mentions going to the movies at the Aladdin- the movie theater in nearby Derry.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane : Bob's appearance in Chapter 11 is explained away by Mr. Clarke as an acute stress reaction but this is Hawkins...

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome : Dustin think that he's crippled the monster only to find that everyone is exactly where he left them and nothing has changed- as far as *he* can tell.

* BiTheWay : Jonathan Byers is attracted to both Nancy and Steve, even though he's not completely sure that he even *likes* Steve.

* The Cameo : While the DJ on radio 6.60 is never named, it's pretty clearly Grant Mazzy from Pontypool.

* CrossOver : Starts as an homage/pastiche of Stephen King but veers into true cross-over territory when Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan run into The Shop- AKA the Weapons Shop of Isher AKA The Department of Scientific Intelligence- the group responsible for the events of Firestarter and TheMist and who fail to stop the super-flu outbreak during TheStand.

* DarkWorld : The Inbetween is nothing but dark. With all the Stephen King references in the fic it's possible that the place is supposed be Todash Space - the same dark dimension that characters travel through in TheDarkTower when they 'go todash' and that spawns the monsters from TheMist.

** Mr. Clarke readily admits that he doesn't know how to shoot or fight but that he'll help however he can. His information on how parasites function proves to be extremely important to figuring out the nature of the Aboleth and his ability to build a radio jammer *saves the entire town*.

* LonelyRichKid : At the beginning Steve is extremely rich and extremely isolated. He ends up cutting himself off from his biological family but surrounded by a FamilyOfChoice.

* ObfuscatingStupidity : A couple of characters notice that Steve is prone to this, particular Dustin who scolds him for doing a thing where he "acts dumber than he is" and Hopper who notes that he pretends to be 'sort of an idiot sometimes'. Likely ingrained along with his StepfordSmiler tendencies by his family and his time with Carol and Tommy rather than something he actively does.

* OneSteveLimit : Averted. While there is only one Steve there are three uses of James. James 'Jim' Hopper, James Harrington, and Steven James Harrington. Nancy frequently references background characters names with initials- indicating another person with the same first name.

* ArcWords : "The supreme being of the Three-Fold World","Let the sunshine in, face it with a grin.", "Steve are you, okay/alright?"

** How Steve cheeses a boss fight in D&D becomes important at the end.
** The Ariel file Dustin notices on Steve's Dad's computer.

* DarkWorld : The Inbetween is nothing but dark.

** The prologue uses the phrase Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis decertata odiis (Fraternal warfare and alternate reigns fought for in unnatural hate) - and the Aboleth refers to itself as "the supreme being of the threefold world" (triplicis mundi summum) these are both from or related to the Thebaid- a story about the two sons of Oedipus fighting over who gets to be king. The supreme being of the threefold world being referenced? The first literary appearance of the Demogorgon.
** The title is both a reference to StrangerInaStrangeLand by Robert Heinlein- a book that heavily features polyamory- and a reference to a quote from Exodus spoken by Moses- a royal who gave up a life of luxury and found his real people.
** There are only two states that were in the path of totality for the 1963 solar eclipse- Alaska and Maine. Mr. Clarke is originally from LovecraftCountry.

* HiddenDepths : Steve wants to come across as cool and unflappable, but he's surprisingly sensitive and smarter than most people give him credit for. While he's still always slowest on the uptake when it comes to complex concepts he generally proves to have good instincts and is actually a creative thinker that hasn't even played three full D&D sessions before he starts cheesing difficult boss-fights.

* Homage :
** Most of the chapter titles are based on a HPLovecraft story.
** To King to the point of being a WholePlotReference for IT.

* LonelyRichKid : At the beginning Steve is extremely loaded and extremely isolated.

* OneSteveLimit : Averted. While there is only one Steve there are three uses of James. James 'Jim' Hopper, James Harrington, and Steven James Harrington. Nancy frequently references background characters names with initials- indicating another person with the same first name.

* ShownTheirWork : The 80's parasites, the Vietnam war, Dungeons and Dragons and radio science.

* StepfordSmiler : Steve seems to have internalized that his main worth as a friend/son stems from being emotionally uncomplicated and undemanding. A big part of his arc is realizing that he can open up to his friends when he's unhappy.

* TakeThat : A couple of mild ones to people who think that Billy Hargrove is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold instead of a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. One even delivered by Billy himself as he mocks Nancy with the fact that some of the girls at school just think that "he's misunderstood".

It's two months after the defeat of the Mind-Flayer and a new monster has made it's way to Hawkins. Now ordinary people are acting strange and a plague of nightmares has descended on the town. No dimension is safe and the only people who can save the day still have to deal with finishing their science homework.

* ShownTheirWork : The 80'sm parasites, the Vietnam war, Dungeons and Dragons and radio science.

* WellDoneSonGuy : Steve desperately craves any kind of validation from adults due to his actual parents being emotionally distant, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Hopper.

* Hellgate : Subverted. There isn't any open gate this time. There are, however, The Gates to Hell- a storm drain with an ominous name.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane : Bob's appearance in Chapter 11 is explained away by Mr. Clarke as an acute stress reaction but this *is* Hawkins...

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech : Dustin delivers one to Billy, comparing him to other characters that have suffered abuse making it clear that he thinks that Billy is just a sadist and that his FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse.

* ShownTheirWork : Sticks pretty close to the 80's aesthetic of the show and veers into parasites, the Vietnam war, Dungeons and Dragons and radio science.

* TakeThat : A couple of mild ones to people who think that Billy Hargrove is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold instead of a sadistic JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. One even delivered by Billy himself as he mocks Nancy that some of the girls at school just think that he's misunderstood.

* ThinDimensionalBarrier : Thinny's are implied to exist in-universe.

* UnresolvedSexualTension : Nancy/Johnathan/Steve

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve : The fight against the Aboleth in the Inbetween has this in spades. From Mike realizing how to ShapeshifterModeLock the monster to the other's realizing that they can will their signature weapons into being.

* GenreRoulette : Starts as mostly a ComingOfAgeStory character study- dips into political thriller eventually ends up straight horror.

* AdultsAreUseless : Averted. Hopper, Joyce, Kali and Mr.Clarke are all instrumental in killing the monster. Even some adults that aren't in the loop like Phil Callhan do something useful over the course of the story.

** Steve is obviously suffering from panic attacks and possibly some kind of post traumatic stress disorder with what ::might be depersonalization/derealization episodes.

** Steve's mother has a unnamed 'nervous disposition'

* CrossOver : Starts as an homage/pastiche of Stephen King but veers into true cross-over territory when Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan run into The Shop- AKA the Weapons Shop of Isher AKA TheDepartment of Scientific Intelligence- the group responsible for the events of FireStarter and TheMist and who fail to stop the super-flu outbreak during TheStand.

** The prologue uses the phrase Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis decertata odiis (Fraternal warfare and : alternate reigns fought for in unnatural hate) - and the Aboleth refers to itself as "the supreme being of the threefold world" (triplicis mundi summum) these are both from or related to the Thebaid- a story about the two sons of Oedipus fighting over who gets to be king. The supreme being of the threefold world being referenced? The first literary appearance of the Demogorgon.

* PuttingOnTheReich : The Shop is just as immoral as Hawkins lab and employs people that were part of Operation Paperclip.

* PuttingOnTheReich : The Shop is just as immoral as Hawkins lab and employs people that were part of Operation
Paperclip.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech : Dustin delivers one to Billy, comparing him to other characters that have suffered abuse
making it clear that he thinks that Billy is just a sadist and that his FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse.

* TakeThat : A couple of mild ones to people who think that Billy Hargrove is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold instead of a sadistic JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. One delivered by Billy himself.

* ArcWords : "The supreme being of the Three-Fold World","Let the sunshine in, face it with a grin.", "Steve are ::you, okay/alright?"

* BookEnds : The flashback to the D&D game the kids and Steve are playing starts in the first chapter and ends in the ::last.

* CheckovsGun :

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve : The fight against the Aboleth in the Inbetween has this in spades. From Mike realizing
how to ShapeshifterModeLock the monster to the other's realizing that they can will their signature weapons into being.

* CrossOver : Starts as an homage/pastiche of Stephen King but veers into true
::cross-over territory when Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan run into The Shop- AKA the Weapons Shop of Isher AKA The ::Department of Scientific Intelligence- the group responsible for the events of FireStarter and TheMist and who ::fail to stop the super-flu outbreak during TheStand.

** Billy considers things that would range from sexual assault to possible manslaughter to be pranks to pull on ::someone that passes out at a party.

* DisapperedDad : Dustin's dad apparently 'went out for cigarettes' sometime after Season 1.

* GenreRoulette : Starts as mostly a ComingOfAgeStory character study- dips into political thriller eventually ends ::up straight horror.

* GenreSavvy : At this point, pretty much everyone but Dustin, Mr. Clarke, and Mike stand out for how willing they ::are to draw inspiration from movies, D&D and various other media.

** The prologue uses the phrase Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis decertata odiis (Fraternal warfare and ::alternate reigns fought for in unnatural hate) - and the Aboleth refers to itself as "the supreme being of the ::threefold world" (triplicis mundi summum) these are both from or related to the Thebaid- a story about the two sons ::of Oedipus fighting over who gets to be king. The supreme being of the threefold world being referenced? The first ::literary appearance of the Demogorgon.
** The title is both a reference to StrangerInaStrangeLand by Robert Heinlein- a book that heavily features polyamory- ::and a reference to a quote from Exodus spoken by Moses- a royal who gave up a life of luxury and found his real ::people.
** There are only two states that were in the path of totality for the 1963 solar eclipse- Alaska and Maine. Mr. ::Clarke is originally from LovecraftCountry.

* Hellgate : Subverted. There isn't any open gate this time. There are, however, The Gates to Hell- a storm drain ::with an ominous name.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome : Dustin think that he's crippled the monster only to find that everyone is exactly where ::he left them and nothing has changed- as far as *he* can tell.

* OneSteveLimit : Averted. While there is only one Steve there are three uses of James. James 'Jim' Hopper, James ::Harrington, and Steven James Harrington. Nancy frequently references background characters names with initials- ::indicating another person with the same first name.

* PuttingOnTheReich : The Shop is just as immoral as Hawkins lab and employs people that were part of Operation ::Paperclip.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech : Dustin delivers one to Billy, comparing him to other characters that have suffered abuse ::making it clear that he thinks that Billy is just a sadist and that his FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse.

** Learning that there are monsters, nearly dying twice, and deciding that you're personally responsible for a ::bunch of suicidally brave thirteen year olds takes a serious mental toll on Steve.

* ShownTheirWork : Sticks pretty close to the 80's aesthetic of the show and veers into parasites, the Vietnam war, ::Dungeons and Dragons and radio science.

* TakeThat : A couple of mild ones to people who think that Billy Hargrove is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold instead of a sadistic JerkWithAHeartOfJeark. One delivered by Billy himself.

* AdultFear : In spite of fighting actual monsters the teen's nightmares at Hawkins Lab are all these rather than ::being related to the Upside-Down.

* AdultsAreUseless : Averted. Hopper, Joyce, Kali and Mr.Clarke are all instrumental in killing the monster. Even some ::adults that aren't in the loop like Phil Callhan do something useful over the course of the story.

::how to ShapeshifterModeLock the monster to the other's realizing that they can will their signature weapons into ::being.

A novel-length Stranger Things fan fiction set after Season 2 of the show, inspired by the works of StephenKing and HPLovecraft. Notable for its strong character voices, historical detail, and LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* AscendedExtra : Mr. Clarke becomes a major factor in the story.

* AdultFear : In spite of fighting actual monsters the teen's nightmares at Hawkins Lab are all these rather than::being related to the Upside-Down, mostly revolving being a danger to the people you care about.

** Steve is obviously suffering from panic attacks and possibly some kind of post traumatic stress disorder with
::what might be depersonalization/derealization episodes.

** Steve's mother has a unnamed 'nervous disposition' that resulted in her self-medicating.

* ArcWords : "The supreme being of the Three-Fold World","Let the sunshine in, face it with a grin.", "Steve are you, okay/alright?"

* AscendedExtra : Mr. Clarke.

* ArtisticLicense : Radio science. A homemade jammer probably couldn't cover the entire town.

* BookEnds : The flashback to the D&D game the kids and Steve are playing starts in the first chapter and ends in the last.

** Using walkie-talkies on the Aboleth's frequency.

* CrossOver : Starts as an homage/pastiche of StephenKing but veers into true cross-over territory when Nancy, ::Steve, and Jonathan run into The Shop- AKA the Weapons Shop of Isher AKA The Department of Scientific ::Intelligence- the group responsible for the events of FireStarter and TheMist and who fail to stop the super-flu ::outbreak during TheStand.

** Billy considers things that would range from sexual assault to manslaughter to be pranks to pull on someone that ::passes out at a party.

* ForWantOfANail : Or for having a nail. If Steve hadn't pushed Dustin out of the way everyone would have been ::dead. If El hadn't decided to try a different tactic everyone would be dead. If Kali hadn't come back- well-

* GeniusBonus : The prologue uses the phrase Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis decertata odiis (Fraternal ::warfare and alternate reigns fought for in unnatural hate) - and the Aboleth refers to itself as "the supreme ::being of the threefold world" (triplicis mundi summum) these are both from or related to the Thebaid- a story ::about the two sons of Oedipus fighting to be king. The supreme being of the threefold world being referenced? The ::first literary appearance of the Demogorgon.

** To King to the point of WholePlotReference for IT.

* ObfuscatingStupidity : Dustin and Hopper both seem to notice that Steve does this in order to lower expectations.

* PoorCommunicationKills : One of the main themes.

ReasonableAuthorityFigure : Hopper and Mr. Clarke.

* ShoutOut :
** StephenKing constantly
** TheEvilDead
** TheAutopsyOfJaneDoe
** HouseOfLeaves
** TheGoonies
** InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers
** VillageoftheDamned
** TheDarkTower

* Billy seems to have either antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder or both.
* Steve's mother has a unnamed 'nervous disposition' that resulted in her self-medicating.
* Joyce has and is implied to have been briefly hospitalized in her teens for some kind of anxiety disorder.

** Billy seems to have either antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder or both.
** Steve's mother has a unnamed 'nervous disposition' that resulted in her self-medicating.
** Joyce has and is implied to have been briefly hospitalized in her teens for some kind of anxiety disorder.

* ForWantOfANail : Or for having a nail. If Steve hadn't pushed Dustin out of the way everyone would have been dead. If El hadn't decided to try a different tactic everyone would be dead. If Kali hadn't come back- well-

* GenreRoulette : Starts as mostly a ComingOfAgeStory character study- dips into political thriller eventually ends up straight horror.

* GeniusBonus : The prologue uses the phrase Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis decertata odiis (Fraternal ::warfare and alternate reigns fought for in unnatural hate) - and the Aboleth refers to itself as "the supreme ::being of the threefold world" (triplicis mundi summum) these are both from or related to the Thebaid- a story ::about the two sons of Oedipus fighting to be king. The supreme being of the threefold world being referenced? The first literary appearance of the Demogorgon.

* Hellgate : Subverted. There isn't any open gate this time. There are, however, The Gates to Hell- a storm drain with an ominous name.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome : Dustin think that he's crippled the monster only to find that everyone is exactly where he left them and nothing has changed- as far as *he* can tell.

* OneSteveLimit : Averted. While there is only one Steve there are three uses of James. James 'Jim' Hopper, James Harrington, and Steven James Harrington. Nancy frequently references background characters names with initials- indicating another person with the same first name.

* PuttingOnTheReich : The Shop is just as immoral as Hawkins lab and employs people that were part of Operation Paperclip.

** Learning that there are monsters, nearly dying twice, and deciding that you're personally responsible for a bunch of suicidally brave thirteen year olds takes a serious mental toll on Steve.